4-hydroxybutyraldehyde
|4-hy-drox-y-bu-tyr-al-de-hyde|
🇺🇸
/ˌfɔːr.haɪˈdrɑk.siˌbjuː.təˈræl.dɪ.haɪd/
🇬🇧
/ˌfɔː.haɪˈdrɒk.siˌbjuː.təˈræl.dɪ.haɪd/
butyraldehyde with an –OH at carbon 4
Etymology
'4-hydroxybutyraldehyde' originates from modern systematic chemical (IUPAC-style) naming: the locant '4-' indicates position, the prefix 'hydroxy-' (from Greek 'hydro-' meaning 'water' and 'oxys' meaning 'sharp' or 'acid') denotes an –OH substituent, and the parent 'butyraldehyde' names the four-carbon aldehyde skeleton.
'butyraldehyde' derives from 'butyr-' from Latin 'butyrum' (from Greek 'boutyros' meaning 'butter', originally used for butyric acid derivatives) combined with the suffix '-aldehyde', a 19th-century formation from earlier chemical terminology (German 'Alkoholdehyd' → 'aldehyde'). The combined systematic form '4-hydroxybutyraldehyde' arose with modern locant/prefix conventions.
Initially the components named types of substances (e.g. 'butyr-' referring to butter-like acids); over time these roots and affixes were standardized into systematic names that uniquely identify a specific molecular structure, as in the current meaning 'a butyraldehyde with an –OH at C-4'.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
an organic compound that is a butyraldehyde substituted with a hydroxy group at the 4-position (structure HO–CH2–CH2–CH2–CHO); molecular formula C4H8O2. It is both an aldehyde and a primary alcohol and can serve as an intermediate in organic synthesis (for example, in routes to γ-butyrolactone or related compounds).
4-hydroxybutyraldehyde is used as an intermediate in certain syntheses of γ-butyrolactone derivatives.
Synonyms
Last updated: 2025/08/12 20:35